Review: Alec Bradley Black Market Filthy Hooligan

I purchased the Filthy Hooligan back in 2013 along with other candela cigars I intended to review. 2013 and then 2014 both came and went before I had a chance to prioritize this in my review list. It seemed fitting to try and line this up with St. Patrick’s Day.

The Alec Bradley Filthy Hooligan was first released in 2013 to only 2,000 boxes each at 22 count in a single toro vitola.

Vitola: Toro

Size: 6” x 50 Ring Gauge

Wrapper: Candela (Nicaragua)

Binder: Honduras, Nicaragua

Filler: Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua

Cigars Smoked for this Review: One

Price Point: $7.50 – $8

Cigar Purchased: Purchased

Quick Note: For this review I used Logan’s rating system. You can view it in detailhere.

“The Filthy Hooligan is significantly better than what I was expecting.”

Surgeon’s Rating: 85 AKA "A Couple"

The nose on the Fithy Hooligan is fresh cut grass, hay, dry lumber and sawdust.

With an v-cut the draw is right in the ideal zone.

The first few draws are surprisingly sweet with the dry lumber note I was detecting on the nose and some chlorophyll. This is not at all what I was expecting from the flavor profile. It’s interesting. My mouth becomes quite dry after a few draws and I have to refresh with water. There’s a slight medium strength bit of pepper on the retrohale but I’m not picking up much else. The sweetness and chlorophyll reduce in intensity to about a medium level by the one inch mark.

By the time the second third starts up the sweetness is all but gone taking the chlorophyll notes with it. I’m struggling to pick out any defined flavors here. There are hints of pepper and wood on the retrohale but it is very light. There are some grassy tones at the halfway point. I start to get some chlorophyll again but only on the retrohale. Some earthiness gets introduced into the flavor and starts to gain strength. My girlfriend walked by and said that the aroma was like a good quality peanut butter. That’s a new one for me.

The earth reaches a medium-full level by the time the last third starts. Fortunately the sweetness that dropped off returns here to balance out the earth. I’m definitely getting undertones of peanut butter here. The grassy flavors rise to a medium intensity in the last inch and a half.

The Filthy Hooligan is significantly better than what I was expecting. I don’t think it’s amazingly complex but it is interesting and something very different from the norm. I would prefer this in a smaller vitola like a corona or short robusto

I love the filthy hooligan, one of my favorites. I personally drink water with all my cigars I like to taste only the cigar but that's my opinion. I don't get any chlorophyll in that cigar though, but does have a hay flavour that's quite dominant.